Meat comminuting machine



Sept. 11, 1962 H. BRUNDLER 3,053,297

MEAT COMMINUTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 28, 195? ooo tats

Filed Oct. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 692,859 6 Claims. (Cl. 146--192) trite Forcomminuting meat, bacon, rinds, sinews, head and bone skins, etc., fromlarge pieces into whatever consistency is desired, down to the finestpaste, special machines are needed at present, whose acquisition isfrequently out of the question for small or intermediate size plantswhich are forced to limit their operations to the ordinary meat grinderand flesh cutter. Therefore, they are not able to make use of valuablelay-products, such as rinds, sinews, head and bone skins, etc., becausethey cannot process them conveniently.

It is an object of the invention to overcome this shortcoming byproviding a new comminuting machine for pieces of meat, bacon, rinds,sinews, head and bone skins, etc.

The comminuting machine of the invention includes a base, a housingmounted on the base, and a filling funnel mounted above the housing. Thehousing forms upper and lower comminuting chambers, the upper chamberopening upwardly into the funnel and the lower chamber having adischarge opening. A drive shaft extends upwardly from a motor in thebase through the lower chamber and terminates in the upper chamber.According to the invention a colloid mill is mounted in the lowerchamber, the mill having a rotary member mounted on the drive shaft anda cooperating stationary member. A centrifugal cutting unit is mountedin the upper chamber, the unit having as a rotary member a knifeassembly mounted on the shaft and, as a cooperating stationary member, aperforated plate beneath the knife assembly. Supporting rings aremounted on the housing within each of the chambers, the ring of thelower chamber supporting the stationary member of the colloid mill andthe ring of the upper chamber supporting the stationary member,perforated plate, of the cutting unit. Each is vertically adjustable tovary the clearance between the respective rotating and stationarymembers. The ring of the lower chamber also is adapted alternatively tosupport and hold a perforated plate of a cutting unit and the portion ofthe shaft extending within the lower chamber is adapted alternatively tomount the knife assembly of a centrifugal cutting unit. The rotarymember of the colloid mill is removable from the drive shaft and thestationary member of the mill likewise is removable from its supportingring. Thus either the centrifugal cutting unit of the upper chamber oran additional similar unit may without more be substituted for thecolloid mill in the lower chamber.

The drive shaft is composed of two parts, the lower part terminating inthe lower chamber and the upper part being a removable extension of thelower part extending into the upper chamber. The upper end of the lowerpart is provided with mounting means for mounting in the lower chambereither the rotary member of the colloid mill or the knife assembly ofthe cutting unit, and the extension is provided with mounting means formounting the knife assembly of the cutting unit in the upper chamber,including, if desired, a pre-cutting unit of rotating knives for coarsercutting.

The housing comprises three superposed separable sections, the upper twosections together providing the upper chamber and the lowest sectionproviding the lower chamber, the uppermost section also comprising thelower portion of the inlet funnel and the lower section providing thedischarge opening. The intermediate section is bodily removable, and thebase of the uppermost section exactly 3,953,297 Patented Sept. 11, 1962fits and is attachable to the top of the lowest section, thereby to formwith the lowest section a single comminuting chamber for a centrifugalcutting unit or for a colloid mill.

Each of the supporting rings for the stationary members of the colloidmill and centrifugal cutting unit is screw threaded to a portion of thehousing and there is mechanism for manually rotating each ringindependently of the other from the exterior of the machine foradjusting the clearance between the stationary and rotatable members ofthe colloid mill and cutting unit, respectively.

In one form of the invention the means for rotating the rings comprisesexternal spur gears on each ring and cooperating worm gears, one ofwhich intermeshes with each of the spur gears for effecting theindependent adjustment.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the novel comminutingmachine, showing the built-in colloid mill, centrifugal cutting unit,and above the latter, the precutting knife unit;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal cross-sectional view, taken on line2-2 of FIG. 1, showing the adjusting mechanism for the carrier ring forthe perforated plate of the centrifugal cutter unit. The adjustingmechanism for the colloid mill is identical and therefore has not beenshown in horizontal section;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal reduced sectional view of the optionalpre-cutting knife head, taken on line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view, also on areduced scale, of the colloid mill unit,taken on line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of a modified machinewherein the colloid mill has been removed and replaced by a pre-cuttingunit and a centrifugal cutting unit directly beneath the funnel inletand above the rotary discharge plate and also illustrating adjustingmechanism which may be substituted for that shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 5 but showing thelower portion of the housing of the em bodiment of FIG. 1 wherein asecond centrifugal cutting unit has been substituted for the colloidmill directly above the centrifugal discharge or slinging plate;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view on a reduced scale, taken on line7--7 of FIG. 6, of the knife head of the centrifugal cutting unit; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 6 of a portion of the machine shown inFIG. 1 from which the intermediate housing section has been removed andthe pre-cutting and centrifugal cutting units and perforated platemounted directly above the discharge slinging plate replacing thecolloid mill.

The comminuting machine of the invention, as shown, has a base 1 withinthe lower portion 2 of which there is mounted an electric motor (notshown) which has an upwardly extending vertical drive shaft 3 guided inbearings 4-. The base 1 supports the lower section 5 of thethree-section housing, such lower section being provided with a lateraldischarge opening 6 in the form of a spout. The intermediate section 7of the housing is supported by the lower section 5 and in turn supportsthe upper section 8 which includes the inlet funnel 9. It will be seenthat the upper two sections 7 and 8 together provide the uppercomminuting chamber and that the lower sec tion 5 forms the lowercomminuting chamber. As hereinafter disclosed the center section 7 isremovable and the upper section 8 may be mounted directly on the lowersection 5 thereby providing but a single comminuting chamber forpurposes hereinafter described.

An internally threaded ring 10'is firmly bolted to the lower section ofthe housing. Threadedly mounted on the ring is a ring carrier 11 havingan inwardly directed annular supporting flange 12, the ring carrier 11being adjustable vertically within the housing by rotation with respectto the stationary threaded ring 10. The ring carrier 11 is provided withan external spur gear 13 (identical with element 24, FIG. 2) meshingwith the worm gear 14 mounted on the lower section 5 of the housing. Theworm 14 is aflixed to the shaft 16 (identical with shaft 16', FIG. 2)which can be rotated by a hand wheel (identical with element 15, FIG. 2)for purposes of adjustment. The latter optionally can be provided with ascale (not shown) in order to indicate the amount of adjustment. Theabove-mentioned ring carrier 11 serves as the supporting means for themilling ring 17 comprising the stationary grinding element of a colloidmill to hold the same in proper relation to the rotating part or colloidhead 18 mounted on the driving shaft 3. Alternatively the carrier ring.11 serves as a support for a perforated plate 19 of a centrifugalcutting unit, as illustrated in FIG. 6. Thus, the perforated plate 19 ofFIG. 6 and the colloid milling ring or stator 17 of FIG. 1 are mutuallyinterchangeable within the ring carrier 11. A key 20 preventsunintentional rotation of the perforated plate of FIG. 6 or of themilling ring of FIG. 1 with respect to the ring carrier 11.

The colloid mill shown in FIG. 1, as such, is known in the art. Therotor or colloid head 18 is composed usually of three superposedgrinding bodies provided with external teeth as shown in FIG. 1. Therotor 18 is removable from the drive shaft 3. By operation of the worm14, the ring carrier 11 can be rotated with respect to the ring 10 withwhich it is threadedly engaged so as to be raised or lowered to narrowor widen the annular passage between the rotor 18 and the stator 17 ofthe colloid mill according to the degree of fineness of emulsifiedmaterial desired.

Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, by means of the same ring carrier11, a perforated plate 19 can be mounted and moved toward and away fromthe knives 28' of a centrifugal cutting unit substituted for the colloidmill.

In the intermediate section 7 of the housing of the machine, there issimilarly mounted a second adjustable ring carrier 22 threadedly engagedwith a stationary mounting ring 23 and having a spur gear 24 cooperatingwith a worm 25 to vary the vertical position of the ring 22. Themounting ring 23 is bolted firmly to the section 7 of the housing. Therotation of the worm 25 and consequently that of the ring carrier 22 canbe limited by a stop 21, or two of them, which are threaded on anextension 25 of the worm 25 and moved backward and forwardlongitudinally of such extension within a casing 60. The motion of theworm 25 is limited by engagement of the stops 21 with abutments 21' and21 at opposite ends of the casing 60. The ring carrier 22 supports, bymeans of its annular internal flange 26, a perforatcd steel plate 27constituting the stationary member of the centrifugal cutting unit. Thisplate can be raised or lowered by the worm 25 toward or away from theknives 28 held on the cutter disc 29 of the centrifugal cutting unit.The knives 28 are mounted on the disc 29 by means of screws. The disc 29is held on an extension 30' of the axle 30. The latter constitutes aseparable prolongation of the drive shaft 3 to which it is affixed bymeans of the double-ended bolt 31. The extension has a polygonalcross-section, adapted to drive the disc 29 and knives with the shaft.Similarly, the intermediate portion 31 of the double bolt 31 has apolygonal cross-section as shown in FIG. 7. In the embodiment shown inFIG. 1, this portion furnishes the driving connection to the shaft 3 forthe rotary colloid head 18 and in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 8for the knife assembly 28, 29 of the centrifugal cutter unit.

In FIG. 1 above the centrifugal cutting knives 28 and their mountingdisc 29 there is mounted on a further threaded bolt extension 50 of axle30, the removable pre-cutting knife head 32 having superposedhorizontally arranged pre-cutting knives 33 of different lengths forminga pre-cutting unit located in the uppermost part 8 of the housing belowthe funnel. These pre-cutting knives are preferably inclined so as toexert a feeding action downward. The pre-cutting knives 33 are spacedwith respect to each other in a vertical direction by spacing rings 34.As seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, the pre-cutting knives 33 rotate in slotsformed in vertical ribs or fingers 35 or the like which extend inwardlyor protrude from the housing section 8 into which the funnel 19 opens.The ribs 35, it will be seen, prevent rotation of the material being outwithin the housing section 8 during rotation of the knives 33. In theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, for example, the knife head 32 isprovided with two pairs of cutting knives clamped cross-wise andtightened by means of the screw head 36, which is threaded to the bolt50, which in turn constitutes a prolongation of the shaft 30, 30. Byremoving the screw head 36, it is possible to slip the entirepre-cutting unit 32 with the cutter disc 29 off the upward extension ofthe shaft 30. The screws 37 secure the knives 33 with the spacing rings34 on the pre-cutting head 32 even when the entire assembly is removedfrom the shaft 30 or from its mounting bolt 50 or in the embodiments ofFIGS. 5 and 8 the double-ended bolt 31, 31' depending on whether thepre-cutting unit 32 and centrifugal cutting knives 28 are mounted in theupper portions 7 and 8 of the housing as shown in FIG. 1 or whether theyare mounted in the lower portion in the manner shown in FIG. 8 as wellas in the modification illustrated in FIG. 5.

Depending upon the choice of the size of the holes of the perforatedsteel plate 27, it is possible, by the cooperation of the pre-cuttinghead 32 and the centrifugal cutting knives 28, to transform large piecesof meat directly into pieces of greater or lesser fineness, down to thesize required for the fabrication of sausages without the need for theusual special cutter in addition. This conversion is done in one singlecontinuous operation. For the finest emulsifying the colloid millperforms the necessary refining in accordance with the adjustment of theannular passage between the toothed-grinding bodies of the rotarygrinding head 18 and the stator 17, as seen in FIG. 1. Afteremulsification, the material is expelled into any suitable container ortrough (not shown) from the discharge opening 6 by means of therevolving centrifugal or slinging plate 38 on the drive shaft 3. Thedischarge opening 6 can be closed by appropriate means 39, such as aslide, door or the like.

When only the centrifugal cutting and coarse pre-cutting units areneeded for emulsifying of meat, the intermediate section 7 may beremoved and the upper section or funnel box 8 set directly on the lowersection 5 of the housing. As indicated in FIG. 8, the perforated plate27 is mounted on the annular flange 12 of the ring 11, and the cutterdisc 2911 with the centrifugal cutting knives 23a and the pre-cuttingknife head 32 are installed on the drive shaft 3 or on its drivingextension 31 by the doubleended bolt 31, 31. In this case the extensionaxle 30 is not needed.

As indicated in FIG. 6 for certain types of meat processing it is alsopossible to operate with two superposed centrifugal cutter units whoseperforated plates 19, 27 are mounted in the two ring carriers 11 and 22,with or without the employment of the pre-cutting head in the uppermosthousing part.

In FIG. 5 an alternative embodiment of the invention is shown as appliedto smaller or weaker machines having less power. In this embodiment asomewhat differently shaped funnel box or upper housing section 44 issubstituted for the section 8 of the embodiment of FIG. 1. It is carriedby a rotatable ring carrier 42 having one or more handles 43, thecarrier being in turn threaded to an upwardly extending flange 40 of amodified housing 41 G9 which takes the place of the lower section of thehousing of the embodiment of FIG. 1. The carrier ring 42 is adapted tosupport a perforated plate 27 of the previous embodiment andalternatively the colloid milling ring in such a manner that the heightof either can be adjusted with respect to the rotating cutting elements.The ring carrier 42 can be turned jointly with the funnel box 44 andthus be raised or lowered 'by the handles 43. In this embodiment acentrifugal discharge plate 45 is provided, and, above the perforatedplate 27 are shown centrifugal cutting knives 46 and a pre-cutting knifehead 47 mounted by the double-ended bolt 51, 51 to the shaft 3. In thisembodiment, of course, a colloid mill can be substituted for thecentrifugal cutting knives 46. This construction is particularlyconvenient for machines for smaller enterprises or hotels.

If desired, a device can be inserted in the funnel 9 to provide arestricted passage for the entrance of the meat to be comminuted. Asshown, this device is in the form of a removable sheet-metal ring 48having tongues 49 protruding toward each other but displaced in heightas to each other.

Depending upon the combination of cutting units chosen, it is possible,according to the invention, to reduce in a single operation large piecesof meat to the desired consistency for the fabrication of sausages.Moreover, the valuable by-products, such as rinds, sinews, head and boneskins, etc., may be reduced to the finest paste. In addition to meat,other materials, such as green vegetables, chemicals, etc., may beminced or emulsified by means of the novel comminuting machine of theinvention.

What I claim is:

1. A meat machine comprising, in combination a generally cylindrical,vertically arranged housing having a vertically arranged filling funnelfor meat in pieces at the upper end thereof and an outlet at the lowerend, a vertical rotatable shaft coaxially mounted in said housing,extending from and driven by an electric motor mounted at the bottom ofsaid housing, a meat removal means adjacent said outlet for promotingflow of said meat out of said housing, two vertically spaced-apart ringmembers each coaxially arranged with said shaft, each ring member beingthreaded to the inside of said housing for relative vertical adjustmenttherewith independently of each other and of the entire housing, eachring member being provided with external moving means for rotating itsring member relative to said housing, and each of said ring membershaving a depending, inwardly extending, rigidly mounted circular ledge,a perforated plate having a central opening being mounted on the uppersurface of the ledge of said uppermost ring and being supported therebyfor vertical movement therewith, said plate extending across the insideof said housing, said shaft being aligned with said opening, at leastone meat cutting knife mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith,extending across said chamber, terminating near the outer circumferenceof said perforated plate, the vertical movement of said perforated plateadjusts the clearance between said knife and said perforated plate, theedge of said knife closely overlying said perforated plate, said knifebeing adapted to urge meat downwardly through said perforated plate andto cut it against said perforated plate, said housing immediately abovesaid vertical plate defining a generally unobstructed meat moving zonewhereby outer parts of said perforated plate are in directcommunication, a lower stationary cutter means axially arranged withsaid shaft, mounted on the upper surface of the ledge of said lower ringmember and being supported thereby for vertical adjustment therewith,and positioned in spaced relation beneath said perforated plate toprovide a meat receiving chamber between said perforated plate and saidstationary cutter means, rotatable cutter means mounted on said shaftfor rotation therewith and cooperating with said stationary cutter meansto comminute meat passing therebe tween, the vertical movement of saidstationary cutter means adjusts the clearance between said rotatablecutter means and said stationary cutter means.

2. The comminuting machine of claim 1 wherein said lower stationarycutter means axially arranged with said shaft comprises a secondperforated plate, substantially identical with said aforementionedperforated plate, having a central opening, and having a peripheralmargin portion engaging for support its corresponding ring ledge, andsaid rotatable cutter means comprising at least one meat cutting knifemounted on said shaft, extending across said chamber terminating nearthe outer circumference of said perforated plate, said cutting knifeclosely overlying said perforated plate being adapted to urge the meatdownwards through said second perforated plate and to comminute it incooperation with said plate.

3. In a comminuting machine for meat and the like having a base, ahousing mounted on the base, including a filling funnel at the top ofthe housing, the housing having upper and lower comminuting chambers,the upper chamber having an opening upwardly into said funnel and thelower chamber having a discharge opening, and said machine having adrive shaft extending from said base upwardly through said lower chamberand into said upper chamber, the combination which comprises a colloidmill in said lower chamber, said mill having a rotary member mounted onsaid shaft and a cooperating stationary member, a cutting unit in saidupper chamber having as a rotary member a knife assembly mounted on saidshaft in said upper chamber and as a cooperating stationary member aperforated plate beneath said knife assembly in said upper chamber,supporting rings threaded to the inside of said housing within each ofsaid chambers, the ring of said lower chamber having a portionsupporting the stationary member of said colloid mill and the ring ofsaid upper chamber having a portion supporting the stationary member ofsaid cutting unit, means operatively associated with said housing andsaid rings for vertically adjusting each of said supporting ringsindependently of each other and of the entire housing for adjusting theclearance between the stationary members and their respective rotarymembers, said portion of the ring of said lower chamber also beingconstructed and arranged to support and hold a perforated plate similarto said first mentioned plate, and the portion of said shaft extendingwithin said lower chamber also having means for mounting a knifeassembly, the rotary member of the colloid mill being removably attachedto said shaft and the stationary member thereof being removable from itssupporting ring so that either the cutting unit of said upper chamber oran additional cutting unit may be substituted for the colloid mill inthe lower chamber.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein said housing iscomprised of three superposed separable sections, the upper two sectionstogether providing said upper chamber and the lowest section providingsaid lower chamber, the uppermost section also comprising the lowerportion of the inlet funnel and the lowest section providing thedischarge opening, the intermediate section being bodily removable andthe base of the uppermost section fitting and being attachable to thetop of the lowest section thereby to form with said lowest section asingle comminuting chamber for a perforated platerotary knife cuttingunit or a colloid mill when said intermediate section is removed.

5. Apparatus is accordance with claim 3 wherein each of said supportingrings is provided with an external spur gear and wherein said housingcarries a pair of worm gears, one of which intermeshes with each of saidspur gears for effecting said independent adjustment.

6. In a comminuting machine for meat and the like having a base, ahousing mounted on the base, including a filling funnel at the top ofthe housing, the housing having at least one comminuting chamber, saidchamber having an opening upwardly into said funnel and a lowerdischarge opening, and said machine having a rotary drive shaftextending from said base upwardly into said chamber, the combinationwhich comprises a cutting unit in said chamber having as a rotary membera knife assembly mounted on said shaft in said chamber and as acooperating stationary member a perforated plate beneath said knifeassembly in said chamber, a spur gear supporting ring threadably mountedto the inside of said housing within said chamber, said ring having adepending ledge portion supporting and holding the stationary member ofsaid cutting unit, said supporting ring being vertically adjustable withrespect to and independently of the entire housing for verticallyadjusting said stationary member, and means including a worm gear meshedwith said spur gear for vertically adjusting said ring, the knifeassembly being removably attached to said shaft and the stationaryperforated plate being removable from its supporting ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS303,795 Bell Aug. 19, 1884 430,806 Mesa June 24, 1890 1,066,722 GanzhornJuly 8, 1913 2,063,996 Gervais Dec. 15, 1936 2,639,747 Burn et al May26, 1953 2,749,053 Rieth June 5, 1956 2,977,056 Gustke Mar. 28, 1961FOREIGN PATENTS 981,435 France Ian. 17, 1951 179,473 Austria Aug. 25,1954

